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Should Value Investors Buy Allstate (ALL) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Allstate (ALL - Free Report) . ALL is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.45. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.64. ALL's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.14 and as low as 7.06, with a median of 8.62, all within the past year.

We also note that ALL holds a PEG ratio of 1.13. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ALL's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 2.99. Within the past year, ALL's PEG has been as high as 1.46 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 1.14.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. ALL has a P/S ratio of 0.73. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.93.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Allstate is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, ALL sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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